'Précis of correspondence regarding the affairs of the Persian Gulf, 1801-1853' [‎114r] (227/344)

Part VI-Chap. XLIV.] 207
againet the British Government whose officers are empowered to defend Bahrein against
his invasion till the pleasure of Her Majesty'd Government shall be made known to them.
After this declaration the Admiral must exercise his discretion as to the most expedient
metbod to be adopted for the defence of Bahrein.
5. There is no other part of the correspondence received with your despatch of the 1st
instant that requires immediate notice.
6. His Lordship requests that the Hon'ble the Governor will, as he proposes, forward
hisdespatches to the Admiral by Her Majesty's ship Volage, and that he will avail himself
of the best and earliest opportunities of transmitting copies of this correspondence for the
information of the Honorable the Secret Committee Pre-1784, the Committee responsible for protecting East India Company shipping. Post-1784, its main role was to transmit communications between the Board of Control and the Company's Indian governments on matters requiring secrecy. and of Her Majesty's Consul in
Egypt.
I have the honor to be.
Sir,
Your most obedient, humble servant,
A. F. MADDOCK,
Offg. Secretary to Government, of India
with the Governor-Qeneral.
Simla ;
The 18th April 1839.
(Ill) PROGRESS OF EGYPTIAN INFLUENCE ON THE GULF TRIBES AND BRITISH
ATTEMPTS TO FORM CONFEDERACY AGAINST THE EGYPTIAN POWER.
389. In June 1839 Captain Hennell visited Bahrein and the several ports
on the Pirate Coast, and his report on the extent of the influence gained by
Vol. 65—loci of 1839, p. 438. the Egyptian Commanders and agents,
the measures taken to counteract it
and the state of the tribes, is so very interesting that it deserves to be
Tead carefully and is therefore printed below :—
H. C. Steamer Hugh Lindsay, off Rasel Khymah, 4th July 1839. Secret Department.
S ir,
In enclosing for the information of the Hon'ble the Governor in Council, the accompany
ing translation of a letter from Mollah Houssein the British Agent at Shargah, received
at Karrak on the 24th ultimo, I have the honor to state, that having no reason to doubt the
correctness of this report, it appeared to me evident, that unless instant and decided measures
of counteraction were adopted, the influence and authority of Khorshid Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. would be speedily
extended over the province of Oman. I there-
For translation of letter from Agent at Shargah fore determined to aVail myself of the oppor-
relative to the progress of the Egyptian influence , •, «• j j i tt *vi o, -vf *
on Oman. " ^ ^ tnmty afforded by the H. C. Steamer Hugh
Lindsay touching in the Arabian coast on her
way to Muscat for the July overland mail, to visit some of the principal ports in that quarter
with the view of taking such steps as the urgency of the case might seem to call for. I had
the less hesitation in undertaking this object, as the state of affairs in Persia appeared
sufficiently tranquil to allow of my absence without detriment to the public service.
2. On the evening of the 26th ultimo 1 embarked in the Hugh Lindsay and arrived at Bah-
Bahrein. mw 011 aftmKxm of the 28th. Bern^ desirous •
of learning more precisely the real sentiments
entprtained by Shaik Abdoollah ben Ahmed, the chief of that i?land, with reference to Khorshid
Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. 's proceedings, and also ascertaining as far as possible the actual motives which had in
duced him, contrary to every expectation, so readily to acknowledge the supremacy of Mohamed
Ally, by consenting to pay him an annual tribute, I lost no time in requesting that I might
be favored with an interview. The Shait having agreed to meet me at the Aeent's house
in Munama, I landed early the next morning, and was shortly after joined by him attended only
by his ^uzeer Hajee Boo Shab. After the usual compliments, and some preliminary conver
sation upon the state of Syria, and the present hostile attitude maintained on the Aleppo
Frontier by the Egyptian and Turkish Armies, all those present withdrew, excepting the old
Chief and his Wuzeer, myself and Arabic Moonshee. I then informed the Shaik that I had
taken advantage of the steamer touching at Bahrein, partly in order to renew the personal
acquaintance which had commenced between us so many years before, and partly to obtain
a more full explanation from him touching the motives which had led him to submit so
unexpectedly to Khorshid Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , that I had felt much concerned to learn from his reply
to the letti-r I had sent to him by the Government vessel, the insufficient grounds, as they
appeared to me, of his hasty proceeding ; it was true, I said, that upwards of three months
before 1 had declined giving an opinion upon the point he had then referred to me, regarding
the expediency or otherwise of his sending a member of his family to Lahsah to meet
Khorshid Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. , because at that time, not having been made acquainted by the latter with hia
yiews upon Bahrein, it appeared to me a matter of little consequence which way the Shaik